Governments across the world have used stimulus packages to accelerate or kick-start decarbonisation initiatives in 2020.

However, Julian Kettle, WoodMac's vice chairman for metals and mining, cautioned the fundamentals for several metals were "poor and deteriorating, with prices for most well below long-term incentive levels".

"Understandably, investors are not totally convinced that the road to recovery is assured or of the sunlit uplands that the energy transition represents.

Kettle suggested the current lack of investment in new metal supply could eventually see some metals substituted out of use.

"If producers cannot meet the most basic of consumers' needs, a time will surely come when they find ways to innovate out such unreliable raw components from their supply chain," said Kettle.

Meanwhile, the growing importance of ESG among investors means Kettle expects carbon to become a "non-negotiable component of any AGM - as safety did in the 1990s".